I do not have much understanding of the mind-body and soul connection before I began my yoga journey. However, through the process of daily yoga, I now have a limited understanding of how yoga helps me to connect my body, mind, and soul. I have seen the difference in my emotional, mental and physical state the days when I do yoga versus the days I do not.
Dr. Timonthy McCall, Yoga Journal’s medical editor says that “Your mouth waters when you think of your favourtie food, you feel butterfilies in your stomach as you prepare for a presentation and an athlete chokes at a big moment during their competition”
This shows that our body syncs with our thought and actions together to heal and survive. To keep track of how these equations of mind, body, and soul syncs as one. It is essential to have goals that involve physical, mental, and emotional.
- Physical Goals: For instance, the physical goals can include through an observation lens. When you are physically struggling, observe what the mind is doing. I have been observing my physical strengths during my yoga poses when I do challenging poses I feel anxious and frustrated with my body’s ability. I did not do daily yoga this week because I was feeling under the weather and physically I was exhausted. I observe how I feel without judgment and I did not force my body because it would not be worth it.
- Mental Health: Through this goal, I can recognize what my body is needing. Taking all these virtual classes made me drained at the end of the day and often stress out. I found it was quite challenging to cope with my mental health during this pandemic. However, doing yoga helped me to connect with my inner mental strengths. By practicing different breathing techniques helped me to be in the moment and focus on how I am feeling during yoga poses rather than try to think about what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. On days, when I am very stressed out, I do simple yoga poses that involve different breathing techniques and end with mediation to calm my mind.
- Effects of Yoga on the Soul: Through the mindfulness practice of yoga, I able to reflect on my life and pay attention to what is important for me. It has a positive impact on my mood. As yoga has the power to release endorphins in my brain that helps me to shape my negative energy into positive.
